January 1, 1850 to January 1, 1880

On February 17th, Federal troops surrounded and invaded Columbia, South Carolina. General William Tecumseh Sherman led his troops to the center of the city, as Confederates soldiers fled the city. The mayor of Columbia surrendered the city, and Northern troops occupied the city. Before leaving the city, Confederates burned bales of cotton, leaving them smoldering for the Yankees to find. The Federalist...

An article appeared in the Altoona Tribune on February 18, 1865, detailing the execution of James Delvlin, accused of bounty hunting. The execution order arrived on Wednesday the 15, to Colonel Bowbord, the commander at Governor's Island in New York. Reverend Father Healy of St. Peter's Church became Devlin's spiritual advisor while he was waiting for his execution. Throughout...

Colonel John S. Mosby of the 1st Virginia Cavalry was known as the “Grey Ghost” because of his ability to elude and disappear from his Union opponents in the Civil War. His thoughts and memories are captured in a collection of writings that he wrote throughout the Civil War. These writings span from his early adulthood in 1855 to the end of the Civil War in 1865.

In February and March of 1865 a large group of prominent political figureheads from the state of Mississippi gathered together for a called session of the Mississippi House of Representatives. For two whole months, with the siege of Petersburg in the backdrop, the House mulled over the condition of the state and the Confederacy in its fifth year of independence. On the second day of session, Mississippi...

In December of 1864 Francis Preston Blair, Sr., a native of Kentucky residing in Maryland, approached Abraham Lincoln about a peace conference between Blair and political leaders in the South. Blaire was a seventy-three-year-old journalist and influential politician. In 1856 Blaire helped organize the Republican Party. His influence also derived from his editing and founding the Washington Globe...

In 1865, William Gilmore Simms, famed Southern novelist, published a text recounting the capture and burning of Columbia, South Carolina, by the forces of General William Sherman. The text was highly anecdotal, creating a scene of violence, and disorder. He recounted looting, fires, and destruction. Simms argued that Sherman willing and knowingly allowed Columbia to burn, that soldiers prevented...

Written after the passage of an impressments law, explained in General Orders No. 69 on August 27, 1864, this circular from the Confederacy's War Department in Richmond decries the lack of subsistence being provided for the war effort. Essentially, General Orders No. 69 held that every exempt and detailed agriculturists' (i.e. plantation farmers, mainly) was to provide 100 pounds...

On March 3rd the U.S Congress authorizes the formation of the Freedman's Bureau. The bureau helped distressed refugees, freed slaves and poor white farmers; it supervised and managed all confiscated land of formerly confederate states. This bureau was headed by General Oliver Howard, and had supervisory powers over any subjects who were refugees or slaves in rebel states or those dislocated...

It was a humiliating experience for Louisa Minor. The Union troops arrived at her home and stole guns, clothing, bonds, and the watches from two slaves, Sue and Mammy E. Louisa was so alarmed at their behavior that she was afraid for her safety. She found Union officers who protected her, but the threat of violence from Union soldiers was real. Louisa Minor experienced fear that day felt all over...